


Do You Believe In Ghosts?

by xswestallen



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Ghost Stories, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-02
Updated: 2017-10-02
Packaged: 2019-01-07 23:12:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12242490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xswestallen/pseuds/xswestallen
Summary: The gang debates the existence of ghosts.





	Do You Believe In Ghosts?

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Halloween Flash fandom! All the scientific explanation Harry gives for ghosts are true. I’ve always thought ghost stories were interesting so I did some research a few years ago.

Contrary to popular belief, Central City wasn’t sunny all the time. It was a stormy October morning. Jitter was packed with damp people sipping their coffee and tea to warm up. Barry, Iris, Caitlin, Cisco, Wally, and Harry were sitting at a table in the back, reveling in last night’s defeat of another evil meta.

There was a lull in conversation as everyone drank and ate. Barry watched Iris polish off her second cronut. Harry suddenly jerked. The comfortable silence had become an awkward one and all eyes were on Harry.

“What?” he looked genuinely confused by their stares.

“You ok?” Barry asked.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because you moved like you were Kramer hearing Mary Hart’s voice.” Cisco explained. Everyone but Harry was amused.

“What?”

“No Seinfeld on Earth-2, noted.” 

“I just caught a chill. It’s nothing.” Harry sounded like he was having to explain a very simple concept to a group of very dumb people.

“The Jitters ghost is at it again.” Wally laughed.

Harry took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. It was only 9:30 but Harry looked like he had a long day.

“Please tell me that’s a joke and you are not actually naive enough to truly believe in ghosts”.

“Believing in ghosts isn’t naive.” Barry said.

“Of course it is. Believing in anything without evidence to support it mean you’re either naive or an imbecile.”

“We have evidence.” Iris said defiantly. “Barry and I saw one when we were teenagers.”

Barry nodded remembering the experience. Harry rolled his eyes. 

“It’s true. We went to the bowling ally and were about to walk back to the house when it started raining. The precinct was only a few blocks away, so we walked there instead and waited for Joe to get off and give us a ride home.” Barry told the group.

“We got bored just sitting around so we started exploring the place. We saw that one of the interrogation rooms was empty and the door was open so we went in. I pretending to be a cop doing an interrogation when I suddenly felt the room go cold. Like, freezing cold. And it was August.” 

“I felt it too. I got this feeling that we were being watched. I told Iris the room was creepy and we both decided to go back and wait by Joe’s desk. As we walked out of the room the door slammed shut behind us.”

“I thought Barry did it to mess with me but we standing side by side and the door wasn’t in arm’s reach. I turned around through the window into the room, I saw a man standing in there.”

Wally and Cisco looked interested. Harry looked like he was listening to a child explain how a dog ate their homework. Strangely, Caitlin looked sympathetic.

“Wouldn’t the logical explanation be that somebody else just walked into the room and closed the door as you two were walking away?” She spoke in a soft, patronizing voice.

“No.” Iris said confidently. People had tried to dismiss the experience before but she was certain of what she saw. “I knew everyone who worked there, even the janitors. None of them looked like the guy I saw. He was a tall, sickly thin old man with cataracts in his eyes.”

“Besides,” Barry chimed in “if it was just somebody who worked there we would’ve heard footsteps behind us as he walked in.”

“Come on Barry, you’re a scientist!” Caitlin said. “You ghosts aren’t real. There is a logical, scientific explanation for everything. Dead people don’t just materialize out of thin air to scare you.”

“Nothing is impossible.” Barry said sure of himself. “I bet if somebody told you 5 years ago that you’d be sitting next to two guys who can run faster than the speed of sound and another Earth’s version of your former boss, you would call them crazy.”

“That’s different.” Caitlin was getting defensive. “Science can explain your powers and the multiverse.”

“Maybe science will be able to explain ghosts one day.” Iris said as she sipped her tea. 

“Ok, Kermit.” Harry was looking at Iris. Barry wanted to laugh, but thought twice about it. “Science can already explain what you experience. Michael Persinger discovered that certain patterns of weak magnetic fields can create the perception that there’s an unseen person with you. Or perhaps it was low frequency infrasounds. They cause physiological distress that can manifest as chills down your spine or a belief that you see something that isn’t there.”

Harry’s smug expression was infuriating Iris. She was clutching her mug so tight, Barry could see her fingertips turning white. Caitlin looked reassured. A few seconds of silence passed. Just when it seemed the discussion was over, Harry perked up again. Everyone could tell how much he was enjoying this.

“Did the precinct have a carbon monoxide detector? Because, carbon monoxide in small doses can cause people to hallucinate-”

“What do you think, Cisco?” Iris cut Harry off. Cisco pondered the question for a few seconds.

“I don’t know.” 

“What? How do you not know if you do or don’t believe something? You have to know.” Caitlin’ said, her concerned look returning.

“Hey!” Joe’s voice called from across the room. Everyone turned their attention to him as he pulled up a chair. Clearly sensing the tense debate, he asked “What are you guys talking about?”

“Ghosts.” Barry said. “Do you believe in them?”

“I don’t know.” Joe answered. Cisco gave Caitlin a self-satisfied smile. 

“All I know is,” Joe continued as he stole a piece of Barry’s muffin. “You better not bring a ouija board into my house.”


End file.
